L.T, - ._SU>!OCO. " EDMES.'-AY, FEBRU/1,!'Y f. la^fl GOOD EVENING FVTF- YBODY : A show opened in Washington today that amazed even the Vve shiny ton correspondents. And when you can astonish those lads, you1 ve- done something. It was President Roosevelt * s much discussed ^ Little business'’ conference. Ui1 ! V I called up the Washington office of the United Press and they told me that a large part of the proceedings could be described only as pandemonium. It sounded as though almost popular man present was a delegate from Arkansas. Be was called upon to tell the government something about conditions in his part of the country. rie_ got up and ssi : - "I have nothing to A t-T-n Secretary Roper, who presided over a considerable LEAP - 2 part of the proceedings, was unable to maintain order. It became evident taat practically everybody present had ideas about ".hat should be done, all of them different, do.,i■"r you sit down so that you can hear rae? " That v/as ansvrered with ip a chorus of vociferous "Nos!” Narberth, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Gill tcld the assembly that *hrt was needed v.a; a constructive program which ourht to be suggested • 11 — by the Depart.lent of Commerce. They gave the littlerirl a great big hand, not so much for what she said, but for the way she looked when she was saying it. It’s the consensus of the There were cheers wefcao for Mrs. fusrn Gill of with an orchid pinned to ner black satin dress, wes far^v.a y the nost decorative part of the show There were cheers also for Irs. Mary Riker, who ovns a beauty parlor In Colui.bus, Ohio. Her diegnosJs of the -• r , ? trouble of "little buriiuess" rn f high we ges and high ta>:@s. ^ t taf begin..ine' of the meeting. Assistant Secretary Draper told the delegates that the first thing they needed was f *- r poroch* ir.:;en, an . he suggested Free i oth, a whole86le shoe dealer from Cleveland. Later somebody suggested that / ...r, both be made permanent chairman. At that dr. Charles H. Cchnor - : : er in metal 4,relucts g^bprl ngdale, Pennsylvania, shouted: - A^, * t chairman is hand-picked, -t don * t want him.K Someone then as ou .:r. Both: ’’Hov many people do you employ?" 1 f enf^ replica the chairman. ”A11 right, that qualifies you." Jr. Botins first utterance was the confession that * felt jittery, "somewhat 11te the condition of the country now," The pandemonium beer me » vrn worse during the mor.nts dun the loud sper ker system broke down. Everybody was s touting. Host f the delegates paid no attention to what was -com: -n on the platform. Foth had so little luck in keeping order that Asri. tent Secretary Dr; ;)cr was forced to take r- But he didn’t fare much better than taooar ; A A •au-rTr.rrttx? LEAl, - 4 One of tho‘-e present offered the suggestion that nthis r s Ooi1 s country and I think i/ve should open this meeting with a properv„rp f< , no. iu ' s the gentleman repeated his suggestion with the s me results os bp'ore. Vihen confusion finally became confounded beyond the chance of savinp it even by prayer. Uncle 1 n l\Oper gave up in despair. He declared the meeting in recess. But oven that didn't phase some of the delegates. Fully n third of them remained in the hall. Oome of them got on trie platform and made speeches, but nobody listened. The couv* os* * Ion, boos, applause, and cat-calls, were so deafening that it was impassible for reporters to make out what the speeches •e about. The meeting melted away gradually, one earnest orator still occupyin * the latform, talking loudly and fervently to prayer for God's guidance to lead us.” It was a pious idea. but It didn't receive any more attention than any of the other him: elf. HLI a EICK A sensational story was told in Washington today by Ers. Eleanor derrick^ Regional Director for New York of the National Labor Relations Board. She was testifying before the Senate* s Committee on Commerce. Labor people who don't li-ce Mrs. Herrick had published the charge that she was sympathetic to Communists and that she had falsified elections held by the Labor Relations Board among seamen. She denied those charges and £&# added the information that she had received several threats against her life. while she was trying to settle the 4 labor quarrel in the maritime industry. f .i NAVY It has frequently been stated and even printed, that the neads of our Navy^had secret plans in cas^wai^b5=5??%cu>«fc, plans for cooperation with the fleets of other powers, principally Great Britain. Thosg^reports ai-e not true. Admiral Leahy, Chief of Naval Operations, flatly denied them, he told the Naval Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives that Uncle Sam,s navy has no plans to join any other nation in a possible war. navyTs plans are all made to protect the United States against aggresion by foreign powers.and have .no relation to the navy e of any other country. A with tne report that some of Japan's warships had been seen off California Representative, Scott, came to bat A A our Pacific coast and that Uncle Sam's ndval patrols had been hunting for them. That also was contradicted by Admiral Leahy. movements of American ships off southern California are merely A a part of the yearly rnaneuvres. <?r^- (srwr'i vxifuh-' Incidentally, there are ninety-eight assembled in the Pacific, going through the yearly war garnesj TtTTir^Tg^ rehearsing tne movements that they'd carry nof 1 n the United States were attacked by some other power. JAPAN A start!iag^aaaounce.jient was made in the Japanese Parliament j TT todayi A state of war exists between Japan and China! Somehow or other weT ve been suspecting this for quite a while but hitherto tfoE JapanT s rulers have refused to admit it. TheyTve described their activities on the Asiatic mainland as a punitive expedition. One Japanese deputy addressed a pointed ouestion to the V.ar Minister. rV.'nat about Soviet Russia?” he asked. And the answer came crisply:- ’’The Japanese imperial army is prepared to win victory under all circurastances, no matter what Soviet Russia does.” A question was also levelled at the Naval Minister. "How strong is the Japanese Navy?” "It's plenty strong enough at present,” replied Admiral Yonai, ’’but if other countries continue to expand their fleets, Japan will have to expand also. As for the expenses of the^i^fe^a China11 have to be paid eventually by the^Chinese. So said Foreign Minister Hirota. hven if it's impossible to collect from the Chiang iCai-shek government, Japan will get indemnity sonieno’- out of Chinese pockets. Any member of the Lee./ue of Nations is at liberty to ship war materials to China - if it ran. Furthermore, countries that belong to the League may give Chiang Kai-shek*s government any other kind of power. Such was the resolution adopted by the League today, the final dry of its bun one hundredth meeting. help that they choose within their Of course that resolution empty piece of business. Since Japan controls the#«si6qi the only way for member A A nations to send war materials to China would be by the long overland route through Russia - not only a long but a costly business, 133^. Wellington Koo, China’s representative at Geneva, said as much in aefcsSW? so many words. The hope held out to —So China in that resolution is -px-u-Uy meager# fcx he Intimated, A andxsii and still offers no reply to the demand made by China under Articles Ten, bleven- and Seventeen of the Leagued* Covenant. Two countries declined to vote on the resolution. Peru and Poland objected that it had all been arranged secretly by John Lull, France, and Soviet Russia. ITALY Correspondents and diplomats have been puzzled by the violent hatred of America expressed in the Fascist press. As a rule our government pays no attention to anything thatrag printed in foreign newspapers. But in the last few weeks the anti-American tone of the Fascist papers has grown more and more x ±3 ckk * x violent. And since the Fascist Press is controlled by the government the State Department can no longer ignore this.” In fact, it has kftgiui become so blatant that Ambassador Phillips has been instructed to make it the subject of a special visit to the Italian Foreign Office. So he is arranging to see Count Ciano, Italian Foreign Minister meaning of this” and particularly "Why the attacks on President Roosevelt?” One particularly violent abuse of the President was published yesterday. It appeared In two papers, both organs of the Fascist party. It was w±xx written by a former many years. The gist of it is that President Roosevelt is preparing for war the behest of the American Jews. and Mussolini’s son-in-law. will ask:ki» "What *s the priest, now a newspaper man^ who has lived in the United States ENGLAND There was much excitement in the English House of Commons today. The sinking of the British steamer ENDYMION in the Mediterranean aroused fury among the M.Ps. The labor members were particularly enraged. They demanded that the government should retaliate against the Spanish Rebels and seize Franco’s warships. Their demands did not have much effect, however. Foreign Secretary Eden declined even to reply to them. However, he told the House that the government intended to cooperate with France and Italy to prevent any further piracy. In Paris it was announced that thefrench government would back up England in any step she took in that direction. There were suggestions that French warships would resume patrolling the waters around Spain^As a matter of fact, it is stated in the English weekly, "Time and Tide", that British destroyers have been quietly sinking quite a number of so-called pirate submarines in the Mediterranean, though no official announcement has been made. LOANS Once upon a time, John Bull ^rr^^gagar the most A ^ exten: Ive money lender in the world. That is to say, British capital was invested all over the globe. A few years ago, that situation changed when the government put its foot down and frowned upon the lending of British capital in other lands. That policy tfe Changed.egsSpijb. It was announced today that the government1s objection to the lending of British money in other lands will be relaxed, thrrtT’Ta^ to some extent. This is A, due to the complaints of influential bankers. They objected that tht» attitude had resulted in the A 4 A freezing of large amounts of capital. When this became known, some members of Parliament pricked up their ears and became suspicious. They wanted to know:- "Does this mean that English capital is to be lent to Germany and Italy?" The answer to tnat was an emphatic "No!" BLCaBCRG Germany fairly seethed with conjecture and speculation today^ after the resignation of Hitler’s Vvar Minister. Several observers put a grave interpretation upon the departure of Field Marshal von Bloraberg. They say it means a political crisis. The foremost commanders object to the intrusion of Nazi principles into the army. Nazi philosophy, they say. Is all right for civilians but has no place among soldiers. generals have A been gravely shocked by the arrest of the prominent and popular preacher. Paster Niemoeller. In fact, it is said that one of the most important officers. Colonel General Werner von Fritsch, ±s has also threatened to resign. All this, however, is guess-work^and^is officially denied by Nazi leaders. The generals themselves aren* t saying anything RAE In the Adriatic Sea, off the coast of Jugoslavia, thereTs a beautiful little island called Rab»” Once upon a t i ne, it was the favorite seaside resort of Homan knights and potentates in Dalmatia, In medieval times,princes and barons took their hoiid-ys at Rab, swimming and fishing. On his way back from Crusade*] A ^ Fichard-the-Lion-Heart spent several weeks on that island. 7Zd- It comes in the news today because it was almost wiped out by fire. The City Hall, a beautiful specimen of medieval architecture, css? reduced to ruins, also the castle of the r'nee. pother Islands nearby sent their fire brigades to try to stop the flhmes but the damage was done before they arrived. :>LAML CR^oK ijirtp £dbrttt=agg^cawff airplane accident in the South Atlantic Ocean ts reported today. Mario Stoppani v;as homeward <*. bound in a seaplane on round A Brazil. Hr had not gone far toward Africa when urgent radio messa'es were received from him. His engine had -^one bad and he said he 'as returning to Brazil. Then came anxious c*11s for trip flight from Italy to A help / tfftcr2^x>~ silence. Later on, a seaplane from the German airmail service to South America found Stoppani*s plane^^ a rpass of flames. Of the crew of five, only Stoppani himself was alive aATAMOR OS .. ..... : . ____________________ _ Silence and strict censorship surrounded the political atmosphere at Matamoros In Mexico today. Thatfs where the uprising of the Gold Shirts, the Mexican Fascist!, ?.as re orted,aarMemhrg^ Americ a newspaper men were sent to the scene of excitement, but ttnay couldnH get there. They were turned back at the border. 1 General Gomez, Governor of the State of Tamaulipas, was still on ^ho spot. But he denied all tnc stories of trouble. Nevertaeless, the streets of Metamoros »er« jv. trolled by soldiers as veil as'policemen. The censorship naturally multiplied tnr rumors that flew. According to some of ties*, the Gold Shirts were burnlnr railroad bridges, attacking govern'ent insisted that all these reports were either exaggerated or entirely False FLOODS The end of the If rees:iaj we ve brought no good news to the alib i- . From the Pacific coast to the Appalachian Mountains, temperatures were so warm that the ice in all the rivers began to thaw, i *:\.l that of course brings a recurrence of the threat that .e nee ov- : so much of /-.rnt ric? every year - the menace of flood, Lv-.ry city e long tiic hock River in northwestern Illinois, has been warned to prepare for the danger. GHOUND HOG Here’s important news that comes from ^uarryville, Pennsylvania. A group of gentlemen in high silk hats, white nightgowns and other regalia, went on a solemn expedition into the woods. They are members of the Slumbering Ground Hog Lodge. their head, was His Excellency, Defender of the Faith, Joseph Richelieu Swinehart. They returned from the expedition bringing the grave news that they had seen a ground hog, that the ground hog had seen its shadow, and that we may expect six more weeks of winter. And - SO LONG UNTIL TOMORROW.